Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
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Memorial to fallen deputies. Located outside the LASD Lakewood Station. |
The
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (
LASD) serves
Los Angeles County, California. It also serves the
incorporated cities and towns within the county who have contracted with the agency for law-enforcement services (known as "
contract cities" in local jargon).
The LASD is the largest sheriff's department in the United States with over 13,000 employees. On December 1, 1996 the LASD had 8,028 sworn deputies and 4,377 civilian employees.
LASD deputies provided law enforcement services to 2,557,754 residents in an area of 3,171 square miles both in the
unincorporated County land and within the contract cities (1995 figure).
The Sheriff's Department also operates a gigantic jail system which provides short-term incarceration services for all of the County (including the cities like
Los Angeles which have their own police departments). Most of the jail facilities are located in a dense cluster northeast of
Union Station that is surrounded by the station's rail yard. The most important is the
Twin Towers Correctional Facility. The Department claims that it operates the largest jail in the free world.
Some of the newer contract cities like
Santa Clarita and
West Hollywood never had police departments. When their city governments were founded, they took over what was formerly unincorporated land, but then contracted their police responsibilities right back to the county sheriff. Since the sheriff already had substations in those areas anyway, the result was to maintain the status quo.
In contrast,
Compton, California, used to have a police department, but then the city council in 2000 voted to dismantle the police department and become a contract city. Compton has been at times notorious for
gang violence.
Leroy D. Baca is the current sheriff.
Cities
LASD has entered into contracts with the below cities to serve as their police department/law enforcement agency.
Santa Fe Springs was a contract city served by the LASD-Norwalk Station until the 1990s. It now contracts with Whittier Police Department.
Agencies that Contract with LASD for Law Enforcement Services
Transit Services Bureau
*
Metrolink*
Los Angeles MTA Blue Line/Green Line/Red Line and Buses
Community Colleges Services Bureau
*
Los Angeles Community College DistrictCourt Services Division
*Prisoner Transport Services with 31 of the 58 counties in California
*Los Angeles County Marshal/Municipal Courts (Merged into LASD Court Services)
Contract Custody Services
*
California Department of Corrections (Housing Parole Violators)
*
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Detention of Illegal Aliens arrested by ICE)
In the late 1950's, a short lived "
Dragnet (drama)"-style
television series, "Code 3", aired based on real cases (though names and locations were changed) from the
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The late Eugene Biscailuz, then
Sheriff of
Los Angeles County, was featured in a cameo tag line at the end of every episode.
The department's Emergency Services Detail was depicted in the short lived
television series,
240-Robert.
In September 2003,
ABC premiered
10-8: Officers on Duty a prime time drama (with a light comedy twist) based on a rookie with the
Los Angeles Sheriff's Department. The show lasted one or two seasons. The show's name was based on the police radio code for "on duty".
*
ABC's 10-8*
List of 10-8's Cast*
Official Web Site of the LASD*
LASD Reserve Message Board*
LASD Reserve Program*
Article on Ride Along with LA County Deputy in Santa Clarita
